History Literature / OutOftheDark

* BadassBoast: Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Sanders gives one to his troops in ''Chapter XV'' (6).

* InfantImmortality: Averted in one [[MoralEventHorizon particular scene]] in chapter XVIII (19).

* AbnormalAmmo: Shongairi mortars use a wide range of ammunition types, including some kind of chemical warhead that releases a fast-acting neurotoxin.

* AlasPoorVillain: Ground Base Commander Shairez. She may be responsible for kidnapping humans to develop a plague to wipe us all out, but through most of the book she's shown as an intelligent, curious, hard working, and capable aide who is one of the more likable enemies and often serves to draw out the Admiral's softer side. [[spoiler:In the end, she's tortured for info for several hours by Vlad the fucking Impaler.]]
* AlienArtsAreAppreciated: The Shongairi vehicle operators seem to be very grateful for Human made roads.
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Most high ranking Shongairi personnel seem to be able to speak some Human languages, though they do have their own language.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: By the end of the book, Humanity has all it needs to strike back at the Shongairi homeworlds and the Hegemony, but at the cost of three billion human lives thanks to the pre-landing orbital strikes and an unknown amount loss during the fighting on Earth.]]

* BoringButPractical: You don't need a military grade {{BFG}} to kill Shongairi troops, even hunting and recreational firearms work well against them.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Mircea has had quite a dark past. [[spoiler: Understandable considering who he really is.]]

* {{Determinator}}: Mankind as a whole to the Shongairi; it turns out that while humans ''do'' possess a submission mechanism, it is subordinated to our instinct to [[PapaWolf protect]] [[MamaBear family]]. It's also pointed out that "family", in this case, can include up to ''entire countries''. [[spoiler:Then Dracula extends it humanity itself, at great cost to the invaders. And, implicitly, the Hegemony itself.]]

* DisasterScavengers[=/=]DyingLikeAnimals: Alluded to and prepared against, but not actually seen. Humanity holds together pretty well rather than turning on each other for the most part. There are some mentions made of characters being attacked by other, desperate scavengers, and a couple of groups of National Guardsmen attempt to become local warlords and meet suitably bad ends. [[spoiler:Then again, the plot doesn't last until winter, when people will get desperate, though what may happen then ''is'' discussed.]]
* DoNotGoGentle: If Humans can't beat them, then we will kill as many as we can.

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Human militaries outmatch the Shongairi, but cannot defeat them thanks to the Kinetic weapons on the Shongairi's side.

* GaulsWithGrenades: In ''Chapter XXIV (24)'', it is briefly mentioned that a French antiaircraft battery had brought down three more Shongairi landing ships.

* LastStand: All of Humanity is pulling this since they have no way to stop the Shongairi kinetic weapons.

** Later, [[spoiler: when the Shongairi decide we're too dangerous to use as slaves, they plan to make the release of their bioweapon look like an accident to deflect political fallback]].

* MoralityPet: [[spoiler:Stephen becomes this for Mircea]].

* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Of the President Minority variety as [=POTUS=] is a female in this story.

* RebelLeader: Mircea Basarab.

* RockBeatsLaser: As it turns out, the depleted uranium-augmented Chobham armour on [=M1A2=] Abrams tanks literally beats Shongairi vehicle mounted lasers.

* TheRemnant: A heroic example. The remaining Military units of the world are still fighting the Shongairi.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: Absolutely no one on Earth will even consider helping the Shongairi thanks to their repeated orbital bombardment.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Platoon Commander Rayzhar slaughters civilians out of revenge for the death of his brothers.

* HitAndRunTactics: Tank battalions rely on such tactics due to having to get the hell out of their before their Kinetic weapons lock on them.

* AlasPoorVillain: Ground Base Commander Shairez. She may be responsible for kidnapping humans to develop a plague to wipe us all out, but through most of the book she's shown as an intelligent, curious, hard working, and capable aide who is one of the more likable enemies and often serves to draw out the Admiral's softer side. [[spoiler:In the end, she's tortured for info for several hours by Vlad the f'ing Impaler.]]

* BadassBoast: Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Sanders gives one to his troops in chapter XV (6).

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: By the end of the book, Humanity has all it needs to strike back at the Shongairi homeworlds and the Hegemony, but at the cost of three billion human lives thanks to the pre-landing orbital strikes.]]

* CrazyPrepared: Of course, if there hadn't actually been an AlienInvasion, it just would have been...crazy.

* DisasterScavengers[=/=]DyingLikeAnimals: Alluded to and prepared against, but not actually seen. Humanity holds together pretty well rather than turning on each other for the most part. There are some mentions made of characters being attacked by other, desperate scavengers, and a couple of groups of National Guardsmen attempt to become local warlords and meet suitably bad ends. [[spoiler:Then again, the plot doesn't last until winter, when people will get desperate, though what may happen then ''is'' discused.]]

** Fleet Commander Thikair broadcasted to all of Humanity this way to announce the invasion.

* FrickinLaserBeams: Shongairi "tanks" main armament is a laser emitter rather than say a 120mm cannon. These are very powerful and can there through our armor easily, but is weakened by Earth's atmosphere and can't go through depleted uranium-augmented [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chobham_armour Chobham armor]], but it ''can'' go through Ferdinand armor.

* InfantImmortality: Averted in chapter XVIII (19).

** NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight

** When Shongairi soldiers attempt to surrender, but when Stephen Buchevsky again sees the children they have killed, he is reminded of his own killed daughters and has them all killed.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: One of the Hegemony's more pragmatic, founding races basically tells the Shongairi that they'll look the other way if humanity doesn't happen to make it through this.
** Later, when the Shongairi decide we're too dangerous to use as slaves, they plan to make the release of their bioweapon look like an accident to deflect political fallback.

* MoralityPet: Stephen [[spoiler:becomes this for Mircea]].

* NextSundayAD: We are never given an actual year, but we do get some subtle hints such as America does have a female president.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Platoon Commander Rayzhar slaughters civiliians out of revenge for the death of his brothers.

* UpgradeArtifact: The Shongairi test direct "neural education" on humanity and finds us surprisingly better at receiving it than most of the Hegemony's species. [[BlatantLies This is no way]] [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard comes back to haunt them]] [[ForegoneConclusion in the end]].

* YanksWithTanks: F-22 Raptors belonging to the USAF are the first to shootdown Puppy starships and they continue the fight against them both on home soil and in the Middle East.

* [[TheBiteOfDracula Romanians With Rifles]]: We get a some looks at the Romanians fighting off Shongairi forces with T-72 tanks. They do [[CurbStompBattle just as good as the US]]. Meanwhile, ground forces are trying to protect refugees.

* [[TheBiteOfDracula Romanians With Rifles]]: We get a some looks at the Romanians fighting off Shongairi forces with T-72 tanks. They do [[CurbStompBattle just as good as the US]].

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The war against the Shongairi becomes this as so as it is confirmed that we can fight back and that they have landed on Earth.

* EverythingIsOnline: We youtubed shooting down alien dropships! Also one of the primary advantages of humanity, allowing us to coordinate strikes and keep up morale.

* NextSundayAD: We are never given an actual year, but America does have a female president.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The Publishers Weekly summary leaves no doubt as to the nature of the twist at the end of the novel.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: By the end of the book, Humanity has all it needs to strike back at the Shongairi homeworlds and the Hegemony, but at the cost of three billion human lives thank to the pre-landing orbital strikes.]]

* KillAllHumans: The Shongairi plan to kill most humans and enslave the rest turn to this thanks to one asskicking after another.

** GoodGunsBadGuns: Averted. Russian hardware is lovingly appreciated.

* SelfInsertFic: So what, a main character is named David; it's a common name. And his wife's name is Sharon...and they live in South Carolina...and their dogs are named [[Literature/{{Safehold}} Nimue and Merlin]]? [[{{Egregious}} Oh, come on, Weber]]!

* ClarkesThirdLaw: Brigade Commander Harshair briefly reminisces that the savages from their earlier colonization campaigns were convinced that the Shongari troops were wizards who could see in pitch black darkness thanks to their night vision tech.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Humanity is so screwed. [[spoiler:Until it's the Shongairi's turn.]]

* LeaveNoSurvivors: Shongairi soldiers attempt to surrender, but when Stephen Buchevsky again sees the children they have killed, he is reminded of his own killed daughters and has them all killed.

* [[TheBiteOfDracula Romanians With Rifles]]: We get a some looks at the Romanians fighting off Shongari forces with T-72 tanks. They do [[CurbStompBattle just as good as the US]].

* AlternativeNumberSystem: The Shongairi count in base-twelve. Possibly.

* {{BFG}}: Sweet, sweet Barrett .50 cal.

* VillainousBreakdown: Thikair as the novel progresses, especially when [[spoiler: humans begin destroying his ground bases.]] He eventually just decides to RageQuit regarding the entire invasion and blow up Earth from orbit. [[spoiler: Vlad disagrees, and the subsequent scene on the bridge of the alien dreadnought ends with Thikair breaking down into a sobbing wreck.]]

** During a Shongairi preemptive cyber attack that completely destroys all human cyber security in mere minutes. It's even referred to as a "fucking cyber massacre".

** Of course now, they are now dealing with human guerrillas and soldiers that refuse to surrender curbstomp the aliens' ground forces repeatedly as they're unused to an enemy that won't quit once their cities have been flattened from orbit.

** FantasticSlurs: The Shongairi use "weed-eater" as an epithet. Humanity calls them "puppies."

* EverythingIsOnline: We youtubed shooting down alien dropships!
** Also one of the primary advantages of humanity, allowing us to coordinate strikes and keep up morale.

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Neural education gives humanity what it needs to commandeer Shongairi capitol and construction ships and begin the GenocideBackfire.]]

** HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Humanity is the only race that doesn't have the instinct to surrender permanently when beaten by a superior force, since we're far more individual and family oriented than the pack and herd oriented aliens. Guerrilla warfare, passive resistance, and sabotage are utterly foreign to our would-be conquerors because a Shongairi confronted with an obvious superior will automatically submit; the notion of resisting against the "pack leader" in anything other than an obvious show of force intended to seize control of the pack is considered vile and dishonorable.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Dropping a MeteorOfDoom is a cheap way to soften up a future colony.
** The Shongairi have effective energy weapons on their heavy assault vehicles but mostly rely on mediocre conventional firearms. Human firearms and artillery become the stuff of nightmares for them.

* ObstructiveBureaucracy: The Hegemony. It takes them ''600 years'' to go from deciding humanity is a threat to finally sending the Shongairi after us. The Shongairi are aware they can probably get away with subjugating or wiping out a Class Two civilization because it'll take at least a couple of centuries for the Hegemony to check up on them; more if they stall for time.
** Justified because Hegemony FTL isn't that much faster than light.
** Their first contact teams are most made up of a race specifically known for adherence to procedure.

* TheQuisling: Governor Howell of North Carolina. [[spoiler:Who is actually a ReverseMole -- something the Shongairi can't really conceive of until late in the book.]]
** Largely averted as a whole by humanity thanks to our collective outrage and the Shongairi's failure to understand human psychology and their "no carrot, all stick" approach.

* TwistEnding: AND HOW. The last few pages shove what appears to be a SciFi novel into an entirely different genre, one that Weber fans will ''never'' see coming. YMMV, but few reviewers seem to appreciate it.
** [[spoiler: You want to know the twist ending? Do you? Okay, look down at the bottom of the page, at the indexes. Now, in a Hard Sci-Fi setting, which of these indexes seem out of place?]]

* OutsideContextVillain: The aliens are this to humanity. [[spoiler: The vampires]] throw this trope back in their face.

** CrusadingWidower: Most of the main male characters lose their entire family in the invasion.

Fans of the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' and ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series can expect to enjoy the book...riiiiight up until the TwistEnding. Speaking of which, if you don't want to spoil the infamous twist, '''do not''' scroll down to the Index list at the bottom of this page, or even glance at the review page. Note that the planned sequel is intended to reduce some of the... less-hard-science aspects with an explanation much more acceptable to aforementioned fans. The sequel was intended to come out soon after ''Out Of The Dark'', but [[Literature/HonorHarrington he]] [[Literature/Safehold ran]] [[Literature/HellsGate into]] [[Literature/TheWarGods some]] [[Literature/PrinceRoger delays]].

Fans of the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' and ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series can expect to enjoy the book...riiiiight up until the TwistEnding. Speaking of which, if you don't want to spoil the infamous twist, '''do not''' scroll down to the Index list at the bottom of this page, or even glance at the review page.

* DisasterScavengers[=/=]DyingLikeAnimals: Alluded to and prepared against, but not actually seen. Humanity holds together pretty well rather than turning on each other for the most part. There are some mentions made of characters being attacked by other, desperate scavengers, and a couple of groups of National Guardsmen attempt to become local warlords and meet suitably bad ends. [[spoiler:Then again, the plot doesn't last until winter, when people will get desperate.]]

** Leaving the internet in place to demand surrender lets humanity use it to rally and boost their morale.
** Eventually starts happening to humans. The Shongairi, paying attention to human tactics, start to wise up and allow regimental commanders more flexibility in calling in air and orbital support. Eventually they start using human grenade and rocket launchers to supplement their infantry weapons.

* SelfInsertFic: So what, the main character is named David; it's a common name. And his wife's name is Sharon...and they live in South Carolina...and their dogs are named [[Literature/{{Safehold}} Nimue and Merlin]]? [[{{Egregious}} Oh, come on, Weber]]!

* {{Determinator}}: Mankind as a whole to the Shongairi; it turns out that while humans ''do'' possess a submission mechanism, it is subordinated to our instinct to [[PapaWolf protect]] [[MamaBear family]].

* SelfInsertFic: So what, the main character is named David; it's a common name. And his wife's name is Sharon...and they live in South Carolina...and their dogs are named [[{{Safehold}} Nimue and Merlin]]? [[{{Egregious}} Oh, come on, Weber]]!

Expanded from a short story of DavidWeber that first appeared in GeorgeRRMartin and Gardner Dozois's anthology Warriors (2010), this trilogy kickoff blends elements of military science fiction and [[spoiler:dark fantasy]]. In the very near future, Earth has been targeted for colonization by a galactic empire known as the Hegemony. Deemed "lunatic local sentients" by a survey team that witnessed [[TheHouseOfPlantagenet King Henry V]] and his troops [[HundredYearsWar slaughtering the French at Agincourt]], humankind has essentially been written off as [[BarbarianTribe bloodthirsty, backwater barbarians]] that no one will particularly miss. It's TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Technologically superior, carnivorous, [[IntelligentGerbil canine-analog aliens]] have [[AlienInvasion invaded Earth]] with the intention of killing most of us and enslaving the rest.

Fans of the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' and ''{{Safehold}}'' series can expect to enjoy the book...riiiiight up until the TwistEnding. Speaking of which, if you don't want to spoil the infamous twist, '''do not''' scroll down to the Index list at the bottom of this page, or even glance at the review page.